


hearts made of coffee

by softnerds



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Artist Dan, Coffee Shops, M/M, latte art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-19 10:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9436013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softnerds/pseuds/softnerds
Summary: While working in a coffee shop, Dan continues to be visited by an interesting stranger who refuses to tell Dan his real name, only pseudonyms related to his interests.





	

Dan sighed as he wiped down the counter in front of him. After the usual evening rush, he had to use every spare moment between customers to clean up the inevitable mess created from the countless machines taking up the space around him. **  
**

While attending university in Manchester, he worked most nights at the coffee shop, mostly serving other tired students looking for a place with a quiet atmosphere and free wifi. He had no idea what his dream job might be, but he did know this was not it.

Although he didn’t really consider any of his coworkers friends, they were alright, but he wasn’t sure why so many customers felt the need to take out their problems on an obviously already-exhausted student. The way he figured, at least they had the money to buy an unreasonably expensive coffee and the time to stand there and complain.

However, he knew his degree wouldn’t pay for itself. Currently, he was studying art, but if he was being honest he had no idea what the hell he was doing with his future. Sure, he was talented at things like painting, drawing, writing, and acting, but who actually made a career with those? He just couldn’t stand the thought of sitting through countless classes in something torturous like law, so for now he stuck with art.

The small amount of pleasure he did take from his job came from the images he created in the foam of his customers’ coffees when the shop wasn’t too busy. He loved coming up with new ideas and figuring out how to pour and draw in the foam to get it just right.

Most people simply took it for granted without giving the designs the appreciation they deserved (as they do with most art, really), but every now and then, he was able to see someone’s face light up as they picked up their warm mug or cup from the counter, which always made him smile.

These were the same people who didn’t consider workers getting paid minimum wage to be their personal therapists–who generally said “thank you” every time they stopped by, who looked for the beautiful things in life, like a small piece of art sitting atop their latte.

By the time he finished cleaning up around midnight, the shop was almost empty except for a couple stressed-out students who appeared to be anxiously cramming for an exam and the cashier behind the counter, a curly-haired student around his age named PJ. So it wasn’t much of a surprise that his full attention was drawn to the door as it swung open and a man with contrasting porcelain skin and black hair entered.

Dan couldn’t help thinking that the man looked a little nerdy and extremely cute in a colourful plaid shirt, black skinny jeans, and glasses. He tried to put this out of his mind as he heard the man order a caramel macchiato, which he began making as PJ rang up the order and his mind raced almost as fast as his heart.

His hands betrayed his brain as he found himself already forming hearts in the foam of the macchiato, which he placed on the counter. He called out, “Caramel macchiato for–?” He realised he didn’t know the man’s name since he had been too distracted by the man’s appearance to listen to the rest of his conversation with PJ.

“Captain America?” the man provided, unhelpfully in Dan’s mind.

“Captain America? Really?” Dan replied. It came out a little harsher than the teasing tone he had intended, but the man wasn’t fazed one bit.

“Yep,” he responded cheerfully, “My favourite superhero.” Dan caught his eye as he reached for his drink (Dan tried not to notice that his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue), and he held Dan’s gaze, making Dan’s heart speed up a bit. He looked down after a few moments, blushing.

Now Dan was intrigued. While this wasn’t the information he had been hoping to gain from this interaction (namely a name and phone number), he now found himself wanting to know more about this cute guy who apparently also had good taste in superheroes.

The man didn’t say anything about the hearts in his coffee when he grabbed it from the counter, but he was smiling as he walked towards the door, and Dan could tell he was one of those special people who noticed and appreciated his extra effort. Dan could only hope he would be back soon so he could learn more about this man with the shining personality.

***

It had been a few days since the first time Dan had met the mysterious man, but each night he worked, he found his thoughts drifting back to that encounter. He barely knew anything about him except his favourite superhero and approximate age, but Dan knew he wanted to see him again.

As he finished cleaning up around one am, Dan was just beginning to lose hope yet again when the door swung open and Dan saw the bright plaid shirt and dark jeans he had been waiting for. Even at an hour when almost everyone still awake would be tired and miserable, the man’s smile illuminated the night, and Dan couldn’t help but smile back.

He was the only one working that night, so the man approached him straight away. “Caramel macchiato, please,” he said, handing over a five pound note.

“Of course,” Dan responded. “For?”

“Buffy,” the man replied confidently.

“As in, the vampire slayer?”

“Yep!” After Dan simply raised an eyebrow, he added, “My favourite TV show.”

Dan sighed, relenting. “Coming right up.” He had hoped for a real name this time around, but the man’s cheerfulness was too contagious for him to really be annoyed.

This time, he crafted the foam and caramel to resemble the face of a cat. He didn’t even know if the man liked cats, but for some reason Dan at least felt that he would appreciate cute animals.

Thankfully, when he grabbed his cup, Dan saw his face light up once again, and this time his thoughts were actually clear enough to notice the way the man’s tongue poked out slightly between his teeth when he smiled. Dan thought it was adorable.

***

Once again, Dan felt himself counting the days since he’d last seen the man with the black hair. He’d resigned himself to the fact that he would never show up in the afternoon or evening, but that didn’t help the fact that he felt his heart swell every time the door swung open past about ten pm.

So what if Dan had only seen him twice? He’d accepted by now that he had a little bit of a crush.

This time, when the man walked in once again, it had only been about seventy hours since Dan had last seen him. Not that he was counting.

Dan thanked God that the man had chosen to consistently appear late at night, and not, say, mid-morning, when there was often a line almost to the door. This way, he could always give the man his full attention.

Honestly, Dan didn’t doubt that he would instantly focus on him as soon as he walked in even with fifteen other customers waiting, but at least this way he could avoid a lecture from his manager.

Once again, the man approached the register with a glint in his clear blue eyes, and Dan couldn’t help the smile and slight blush that crept onto his face before any words had even been exchanged.

“Caramel macchiato?” Dan asked.

The man grinned. “How did you know?”

“I tend to remember cute guys who only come in during the middle of the night,” Dan said, willing his voice not to shake.

Luckily, the man seemed to enjoy his not-so-subtle flirting, and for once Dan was able to make him blush rather than the other way around.

“Name?” Dan asked, hoping that for the first time he would get a proper response.

The man seemed to know what Dan was thinking, but Dan could tell he took far too much pleasure in keeping Dan waiting. “Matt Bellamy.”  
  
Dan giggled. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s not your real name.”

The man feigned offense, placing his hand over his chest. “How do you know I’m not in disguise?”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’d like to tell you that I loved your band’s last album. I listened to it on repeat for about two weeks straight when it first came out.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Really? I did too!”

“Well that’s a strange thing to say about your own album, Mr. Bellamy,” Dan teased.

The man raised his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, you got me. That’s not my name, just my favourite member of my favourite band.”

Dan’s eyes lit up. “No way, mine too! I may or may not have a framed photo of him in my bathroom.”

“Oh my God,” the man laughed. “I admire your dedication.”

“I appreciate it,” Dan said as he turned away to make the man’s drink, smiling the whole time.

Dan could feel eyes on him as he made the drink. He tried to think fast as to what he could draw in the foam this time, but it seemed like the man didn’t mind him taking his time.

He glanced up to meet bright blue eyes as he poured the steamed milk, and he saw the man smiling at him as he worked. Eventually, he handed the man the cup across the counter, blushing when their fingers briefly overlapped.

“Is this a swan?” the man asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Dan proudly confirmed.

“Did you know that quite a few swans are gay? Especially black swans,” the man replied.

Dan spluttered, “Uh, no, I guess I didn’t.” That was the last thing he was expecting to hear out of the man’s mouth.

He laughed at Dan’s surprise, turning Dan’s shocked expression into a grin. 

This time, Dan’s smile stayed with him long after the man had left the coffee shop.

***

A couple nights later, when he saw black hair and pale skin through the glass door of the shop, Dan didn’t even have to ask. He was halfway through making a caramel macchiato before the man had even made it up to the register.

He poured a simple plant design with the milk and handed it to the man, who was waiting patiently at the counter. After he paid, he actually took a moment to observe the art. “Oh my God, this looks just like Barry!” he exclaimed.

“Barry?” Dan replied, confused.

“One of my houseplants,” the man explained. “I think I’m up to thirteen now, but Barry is one of my favourites.”

“You name your houseplants?” Dan questioned, but as he shook his head, his smile only grew. While ridiculous, Dan found it completely adorable.

The man responded matter-of-factly, “Of course I do, it gives them personality.”

“Right,” Dan laughed.

They fell into a brief silence, but the man didn’t leave. “You didn’t ask me who it was for this time,” he said after a moment.

“Why, what were you planning to say this time? Bruce Wayne? Simba?” Dan grinned.

“Phil, actually,” he replied, meeting Dan’s soft stare.

Dan raised his eyebrows. “Phil?”

He smiled back. “It’s my actual name, I promise.”

“Ah, so the game is over.”

Phil paused before responding. “Well, not that I wasn’t enjoying it, but I did kind of want you to know my real name since I have a question to ask you.”

Dan peered back at him curiously, silently telling him to continue.

“Would you like to go for dinner sometime?”

Dan’s mouth fell open, and Phil seemed to take his surprise as hesitation as he jumped to explain away any awkwardness. “I mean– I was gonna suggest coffee first because it’s more casual but I figured you probably wouldn’t want that, so I thought dinner would be good but really we can do anything you like–”

“Phil, it’s fine,” Dan interrupted, smiling. “I’d love to go to dinner with you.”

Dan watched Phil’s face light up like a child being given a puppy on Christmas. He’d never thought someone would actually be that excited just to go on a date with him, but if he was being honest with himself, he enjoyed it.

For him, saying yes hadn’t even taken any contemplation. Not only was Phil cute and had similar interests to him, but just in their brief meetings he’d already been able to make Dan laugh more than he did combined in the days between.

“Really?” Phil asked, looking not quite surprised, but a little bit awestruck.

“Really,” Dan confirmed. He placed his hand over Phil’s, which was still resting on the counter, and Phil peered with slightly wide eyes at their overlapping fingers. Dan was already smiling softly at him when he looked back up.

They exchanged numbers and discussed a day, time, and place for them to meet at. (When Dan asked Phil if he had any places in mind, he replied, “Well, I wasn’t really sure if I’d even get that far, to be honest,” to which Dan just laughed.) When their plans to meet two nights later at a quiet restaurant down the street had eventually been settled, they said their goodbyes with gentle blushes on their cheeks and hands reluctant to let go.

Eventually, Phil left the shop, smiling down at the art on top of the coffee he realized he had forgotten to drink.


End file.
